


Saffron

by devilinthedetails



Category: PIERCE Tamora - Works, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Carthak, Cultural Differences, F/M, Love, Spice, Wealth, interracial couple, saffron - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 09:47:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17242013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/devilinthedetails/pseuds/devilinthedetails
Summary: Kaddar shows Kalasin something more valuable than gold.





	Saffron

Saffron

“Close your eyes,” Kaddar ordered Kalasin as he had countless times on their tour of the garden where many of the spices used to flavor the Carthaki court’s thousands of flavorful dishes were cultivated. 

Kalasin obeyed, her nose still tingling from the ginger he had made her smell and guess moment’s ago. 

“This is a very rare and exotic spice.” Kaddar wafted something with a sweet yet grassy aroma that made Kalasin imagine hay mixed in honey under her nose. 

“I don’t need the hint.” Kalasin sniffed indignantly, inhaling more of the rich scent beneath her nose. “It’s saffron.” 

“So it is.” Kaddar beamed proudly whether at her proper identification of the spice or of the wealth saffron embodied as Kalasin opened her eyes to see a bowl with the dry, red threads of harvested saffron. “It can be used to dye clothing or to add flavor and color to food.” 

“It’s more valuable than gold,” Kalasin murmured, remembering that her father had once told her that when she was a little girl nibbling at a tiny cake stained the yellow-orange of cooked saffron, and she hadn’t believed him. Back then, she had found it impossible to imagine that anything used in something as fleeting as cooking could be more valuable than something as permanent and glittering as gold. It was only as she grew that she came to understand how truly expensive and rare saffron foods and fabrics were. Then she had arrived in Carthak to discover that the Carthaki empire was so unfathomably wealthy that its nobility and certainly its emperor often dined on and dressed in saffron. 

“So is my wife.” Kaddar kissed her cheek. “We’ll have a saffron cake tonight. I know you find those simply decadent.” 

“I shouldn’t eat decadent food.” Unable to prevent her face from cracking into a smile, Kalasin nudged her husband. 

“Why not?” Kaddar seized her nudge as an opportunity to embrace her, drawing her close to his powerful chest in a way that left her breathless with laughter and love. “It tastes so delicious.”

**Author's Note:**

> In the Middle Ages, saffron truly was more valuable than gold.


End file.
